Outfielder

Outfielder Brian Jordan and the Texas Rangers agreed Saturday to a one-year contract that guarantees him $1,375,000. The former all-star hit .299 with six homers and 28 RBIs in 66 games last season with the Los Angeles Dodgers before surgery July 11 for tendinitis in his left knee. He is expected to be at full strength when spring training starts. General Manager John Hart said the signing of Jordan, who is expected to play right field, is another indication that the proposed trade of MVP shortstop Alex Rodriguez to Boston really is dead.

ST. PETERSBURG - Fans attending the Tampa Bay Rays game Friday did not have to wait long for arguably the most exciting player in baseball to do something impressive. With a runner on first base, the second batter of the game walked onto the field for the Los Angeles Angels. Large in stature (6 feet 2, 230 pounds), his presence prompted a constant, low rumble throughout the stands that was broken up by "whoops" and whistles. One strike. One ball. Then center fielder Mike Trout sent a baseball over the left-field wall for a two-run home run that sparked the Angels' 5-3 victory at Tropicana Field.

Colorado outfielder Larry Walker pooh-poohs the difficulty of his switch to center field.''It's not a mountain I'm climbing,'' Walker said. ''I'm just going over a little anthill. I'm really not making it any harder than it needs to be.''Walker, a former hockey goalie, credits hockey with helping to form his mind-set. ''I don't know of a hockey goalie that's scared or a hockey player that's scared,'' he said. ''You take the challenge and the ability you have, and maybe push it beyond somewhere you should be - like running into a wall or knocking someone down at second base.

When Megan Woodson dislocated her middle finger at the Kissimmee Klassic this month, the reactions were immediate. Her Hagerty softball teammates were freaked out by the shortstop's misaligned digit. At least, most of them. Kiley Dechau, the Huskies' senior left fielder, remained calm and laughed at the other girls' responses. With both parents in the medical field - her mother, Monica Niece-Dechau, is a delivery-room nurse, and her stepfather, Keith Miessau, is an athletic trainer at Lake Mary - Dechau has heard of more severe situations.

Now it can be told ...When outfielder Dave Martinez was 19 years old and fresh out of Valencia Community College, the Chicago Cubs sent him to Puerto Rico to play winter ball.Perfect fit, right? His parents are Puerto Rican, he'll be comfortable, and he can get his first taste of professional baseball. ...Only one problem. Martinez couldn't speak Spanish.``I was so embarrassed,'' Martinez said. ``All the Spanish-speaking guys gave me a hard time about it.''He grew up around 93rd and Lexington in New York City, then moved with his family to Orlando when he was 13 because he had an uncle who said Florida was a better place to live.

Outfielder Kevin McReynolds finally got the multiyear contract he wanted, agreeing to a 3-year, $5.5 million deal on Monday with the New York Mets.McReynolds, who threatened to become a free agent after the 1989 season if he didn't get a long-term contract by New Year's Day, gets a $500,000 signing bonus, $1.6 million in 1989, $1.3 million in 1990 and $2.1 million in 1991.McReynolds, speaking from his home in Little Rock, Ark., sidestepped the importance of the deadline he had set: ''I never felt like anything was going to bog down.

Outfielder Frank Catalanotto agreed to a one-year $2.2 million contract with the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday, 10 days after the Texas Rangers refused to offer him a new deal. He probably will take over in right field for Jose Cruz Jr. OWENS FILLS ANGELS' NEED Free-agent outfielder Eric Owens signed a one-year contract with the Anaheim Angels. Owens, 31, played for the Florida Marlins last season, hitting .270 with four home runs, 37 RBIs and 26 stolen bases. Owens will be a backup to outfielders Garret Anderson, Darin Erstad and Tim Salmon next season.

Pete Rose, Cincinnati Reds manager, on outfielder Eric Davis' recent hitting streak: ''Eric can carry a team. That's why he makes the money he does and gets the praise he gets. He's one of the best talents in the league.''

The Daytona Beach Islanders named outfielder Jim St. Laurent the team's most valuable player Tuesday night in a pregame ceremony before the Islanders' final home game. St. Laurent led the team with a .297 batting average and led the Florida State League with 151 hits in 509 at-bats. St. Laurent's hits included 20 doubles, 2 triples, 2 home runs and 56 RBIs.

Junior outfielder/shortstop Frank Fucile of the University of Central Florida is the player of the week in the Trans America Athletic Conference.Fucile came off the bench and went 6-for-8 with four RBIs as UCF swept three games from Stetson last weekend. He was 4-for-5 in UCF's 10-3 victory Sunday.''I haven't played in a while and wanted to make the most of my chance,'' said Fucile, who is from Hollywood. ''Now I'm going to do my best to stay in the lineup.''Fucile got his opportunity to start in center field and bat leadoff when Ryan Peavey was one of two players dismissed from the team last week.

TALLAHASSEE - One mid-April night, Florida State coach Mike Martin walked into the intensive care unit at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital to a startling sight. There, lying on a hospital bed, unconscious and with a tube down his throat, was his left fielder and leadoff hitter, Josh Delph . "It was serious," Martin said, reflecting on the harrowing ordeal Delph just experienced. The same day the Seminoles (35-9) hosted rival Florida, Delph was being admitted into the midtown hospital.

TALLAHASSEE - It took a two-year trip to Morristown, Tenn., for Marcus Davis to have his lightning-bolt epiphany. "Baseball is baseball, regardless of where it is and who's playing," said Davis, a Florida State junior outfielder and power hitter. For a young ballplayer who already has a jersey hanging at the baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. - the Cincinnati native's Connie Mack national championship Midlands Redskins hat and jersey are on display there - one would have thought he long understood that seemingly simple philosophy.

Stolen base nets free tacos! Taco Bell will give away the free Tacos on Tuesday, Oct. 30 thanks to San Francisco Giants outfielder Angel Pagan who stole second base in the bottom of the 8th inning during Thursday's game of the World Series. Taco Bell will give out free Doritos Locos Tacos between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 30.

WASHINGTON — When 30-year-old Alfonso Soriano signed an eight-year, $136 million deal after the 2006 season, then- Nationals President Stan Kasten was astounded. "I was surprised at the number and length of the contract, because there is no precedent for a player at that age getting anything close to that (kind of money)," Kasten said at the time. Now Kasten is with the Dodgers, collecting long-term contracts of overpaid players such as Josh Beckett , Carl Crawford , Adrian Gonzalez and Hanley Ramirez . Soriano may not have been worth the $136 million, but he's still putting up solid offensive numbers and playing some defense as well.

WASHINGTON -- Dave Sappelt gets his first start with the Chicago Cubs on Monday afternoon in the opener of a four-game series against the Nationals . Sappelt, acquired along with Travis Wood and another prospect in the Sean Marshall trade, is playing right field and batting eighth. With the exception of Anthony Rizzo , manager Dale Sveum has loaded his lineup with right-handed hitters against Washington left-hander Ross Detwiler , who has limited left-handed hitters to a .153 average.

Just in case you had any doubts, the Cubs will not finish above .500 this season. They lost their 81st game Saturday as the Giants beat them 5-2, although none of the blame goes to David DeJesus , who hit his fourth homer in his last 15 games and made a diving catch near the visiting bullpen. The veteran outfielder is the second highest paid position player ($4.2 million) behind Alfonso Soriano , excluding the new contract for Starlin Castro . But he fits right in as an example-setter for the kids.

Jim Davins may one day become the least successful outfielder to make the major leagues. In his professional career he has one 0-for-4 appearance in Class A rookie league, but now Davins is close to winning a spot with the Minnesota Twins.He isn't going to root Kirby Puckett out of center, though. Davins was converted to a pitcher and has transformed from a non-hitting outfielder to that staple of professional pitching staffs - the big, hard-throwing right-hander.After spending last season at Triple-A Portland, Ore., Davins is in Minnesota's camp trying out as a middle reliever.

Former Olympia outfielder Jesse Winker didn't want to offend his parents, but he had to say it. Though Winker was moving to Billings, Mont., for his minor-league debut with the Mustangs, the Pioneer League rookie affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds , he wasn't worried. "I remember telling my dad before I left, 'I'm going to miss you guys, of course, but I'm not going to be homesick at all because this is what I want to do,'" Winker said. "I wanted to get out here and start my career and go as quickly as possible.

After landing on the disabled list in late April with a sports hernia, San Diego Padres outfielder Jeremy Hermida wanted just one thing -- to get back on the field. The 28-year-old got his wish in Friday night's 9-3 loss to Colorado Springs, going 1 for 2 and playing five innings in right field to start a rehab stint in Tucson that could last up to 20 days. Hermida said he doesn't have a date in mind for when he'd like to return. "It feels pretty good now," Hermida said.